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Formula E’s ‘ghost racing’ game lets you race real drivers live

Wrap your head around this. Formula E, together with Virtually Live, has launched a new racing game that gives you the opportunity to race against Formula E’s drivers as they race IN REAL TIME.

It uses substantial computing power and strands of wizardry best left unexplained to allow you, the plucky Racing Fan, to pilot a ‘ghost’ Formula E car on your mobile, tablet or PC alongside CGI renditions of the real racers on track. Live.

We’re told the action “precisely mirrors the position and order out on track”. You can also post your best quali time and compete even after the race is over, to reproduce “scenarios and challenges that occurred during previous events”. Knowing Formula E’s propensity to serve up ‘scenarios’ and ‘challenges’, this will likely keep you engaged for years.

More so, if your preferred viewing metric veers more towards Ready Player One, you can use the app to follow the race live in CGI, selecting each individual driver and accessing trackside cameras.

“I remember when we launched the first-ever season of Formula E,” explains FE boss Alejandro Agag, “we said fans no longer just want to watch or follow a sport – they want to participate in it too.”

Virtually Live CEO Markus Tellenback added: “We look forward to seeing fans of all abilities – whether a casual gamer on their mobile to an ambitious driver in VR – pitting their skills against the Formula E drivers and their friends.”

Ah yes, VR. We’re told “full virtual reality” will be added on to this gaming experience in the future.

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